Farming Systems, Soil Organic Matter and Soil Fauna - A Study in Cold Arid Regions of Quetta District, Balochistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31580/pjmls.v7i3.3073Keywords:
Conservation agricultural practices, Diversified cropping system, Soil macrofauna, Tree-based intercropping system, Soil organic matterAbstract
The soil organic matter concentration (SOM) is an important soil health indicator. It has a strong positive relationship with soil macrofauna, which are ecosystem engineers. Farming systems greatly influence the concentration of SOM and therefore the abundance of soil macrofauna. This study investigated the concentration of SOM and the abundance and number of soil macrofauna species of agricultural farms of two locations (separated by approximately 45 kilometers) in Quetta district, Balochistan, Pakistan. These farms were 1) orchards of apple, apricot, cherry and plum as monocrops or mix tree stands, 2) croplands of vegetables or cereals and 3) tree-based intercropping fields (TBI). Croplands and monocrop orchards were the oldest (12 to 26 yrs age for croplands and 16 - 25 yrs age for monocrop orchards); whereas, diversified orchards and tree-based intercropping fields were the youngest fields (since the lands were converted from rangeland to cropland; 6 - 14 yrs age for diversified orchards and 3 - 6 yrs age for TBI systems). The croplands were under conventional farming systems (deep tillage and one cropland also received synthetic fertilizers). The other fields (orchards and TBI systems) were under conservation agricultural practices (minimum tillage with the use of spade and the amendment of both manure and inorganic fertilizers). Despite being old, croplands had significantly lower SOM concentrations than orchards (18.0±4.1 g kg-1 soil for croplands and 23.1±4.8 g kg-1 soil for orchards). The most diversified TBI field (4 yrs age) had significantly higher SOM concentration (23.2±3.9 g kg-1 soil) than the oldest (26 yrs age) wheat-fallow rotation system cropland (14.1±1.3 g kg-1 soil; P<0.05). Interestingly, the concentration of SOM to age ratio was 2 to 4 times significantly higher for TBI system and the diversified orchard than croplands and monocrop orchards (P<0.05). Moreover, out of four TBI systems, two fields (TBI1 with 14.8±1.5 g kg-1 soil SOM and TBI2 with 23.2±3.9 g kg-1 soil SOM) had two ant species co-existing and one TBI system (TBI3 with 18.19±3.5 g kg-1 soil SOM) had the highest number of soil macrofauna species (fire ants, snail, earthworm, brown rescue spider, ladybug, woodlice). This study shows that conservation tillage and diversified cropping system (TBI system) had positive influence on the accrual of SOM in soil and the abundance of soil macrofauna species.
References
Gul S, Yanni SF, Whalen JK. Lignin controls on soil ecosystem services: implications for biotechnological advances in biofuel crops. Biochemistry Research Trends. Nova Science Publishers, New York. 2014:375-416.
Even RJ, Cotrufo MF. The ability of soils to aggregate, more than the state of aggregation, promotes protected soil organic matter formation. Geoderma. 2024;442:116760.
Zipei L, Qi S, Ndzana GM, Lijun C, Yuqi C, sheng L, Lichao W. Dynamic of Organic Matter, Nutrient Cycling, and PH in Soil Aggregate Particle Sizes Under Long-Term Cultivation of Camellia Oleifera. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 2024;5:1-8.
Gul S, Whalen JK. Perspectives and strategies to increase the microbial-derived soil organic matter that persists in agroecosystems. Advances in Agronomy. 2022;175:347-401.
Fontaine S, Abbadie L, Aubert M, Barot S, Bloor JM, Derrien D, Duchene O, Gross N, Henneron L, Le Roux X, Loeuille N. Plant–soil synchrony in nutrient cycles: Learning from ecosystems to design sustainable agrosystems. Global Change Biology. 2024;30(1):e17034.
Holatko J, Brtnicky M, Baltazar T, Smutny V, Frouz J, Kintl A, Jaskulska I, Ryant P, Radziemska M, Latal O, Malicek O. Long-term effects of wheat continuous cropping vs wheat in crop rotation on carbon content and mineralisation, aggregate stability, biological activity, and crop yield. European Journal of Agronomy. 2024;158:127218.
Whalen JK, Gul S. Root interactions with the microbiome from the rhizoplane to the bulk soil: An overview. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment, Second Edition, 2023.
Velasquez E, Lavelle P. Soil macrofauna as an indicator for evaluating soil based ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Acta Oecologica. 2019;100:103446.
Coleman DC, Geisen S, Wall DH. Soil fauna: Occurrence, biodiversity, and roles in ecosystem function. InSoil microbiology, ecology and biochemistry 2024;(pp. 131-159). Elsevier.
Erktan A, Or D, Scheu S. The physical structure of soil: determinant and consequence of trophic interactions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 2020;148:107876.
Batista I, Machado DL, Correia ME, Spinelli MH, Corá JE. Soil macrofauna correlations with soil chemical and physical properties and crop sequences under no-tillage. Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo. 2023;47:e0230006.
Ma S, Wang Q, Zhang Y, Yan L, Cui D, Xu L. Effects of natural forest conversion and plantation tree species composition on soil macrofauna communities in Northeast China mountains. Journal of Forestry Research. 2023;34(5):1475-89.
FAO, 2014. What is Conservation Agriculture? FAO CA website. http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/1a.html. (accessed 15 Dec 2020).
Knapp S, van der Heijden MG. A global meta-analysis of yield stability in organic and conservation agriculture. Nature communications. 2018;9(1):3632.
Domínguez A, Jiménez JJ, Ortíz CE, Bedano JC. Soil macrofauna diversity as a key element for building sustainable agriculture in Argentine Pampas. Acta Oecologica. 2018;92:102-16.
Torppa KA, Taylor AR. Alternative combinations of tillage practices and crop rotations can foster earthworm density and bioturbation. Applied Soil Ecology. 2022;175:104460.
Ramos RF, Krolow IR, Krolow DR, Morselli TB, Calegari A, Andrade ND, Antoniolli ZI, Rheinheimer DS. Edaphic fauna in soil profile after three decades of different soil management and cover crops in a subtropical region. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 2023;95(2):e20201667
Mamabolo E, Gaigher R, Pryke JS. Conventional agricultural management negatively affects soil fauna abundance, soil physicochemical quality and multifunctionality. Pedobiologia. 2024;104:150961.
Mirzavand J, Asadi-Rahmani H, Moradi-Talebbeigi R. Biological indicators of soil quality under conventional, reduced, and no-tillage systems. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science. 2022;68(3):311-24.
Sarker RR, Rashid MH, Islam MA, Jahiruddin M, Islam KR, Jahangir MM. Tillage and Residue Management Impact on Microbial and Nematode Abundance Under Diverse Rice-Based Cropping Systems in Calcareous and Non-calcareous Floodplain Soils. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 2023;23(2):2138-51.
Khan I, Chandio TA, Gul S, Shaheen U, Rehman GB, Jan S. Soil quality and growth performance of crops of agroecosystems in the vicinity of fluorite mining. Applied Ecology & Environmental Research. 2022;20(3)
Younas MU, Gul SH, Shaheen UM, Rehman SU, Nawaz MU, Ziad TA, Shaheen GH, Ismail TA. Soil Quality of agricultural lands: A study in Loralai, District, Balochistan, Pakistan. Plant Cell Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. 2022;23(15-16):42-53.
Taran, MT, Gul, S, Panezai S, Naseem M, Shaheen U, Tariq Z, Leghari SU, Chandio TA, Kakar A, Sadiq A, Panezai A. Does land use history have an influence on soil quality? A case study with agricultural lands of Rodh Mulazai, Pishin, Balochistan Pakistan. Food Science and Technology. 2023;43.
Estefan G, Sommer R, Ryan J. Methods of Soil, Plant, and Water Analysis: A manual for the West Asia and North Africa Region (3rd ed.). International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) 2013.
Frasier I, Noellemeyer E, Figuerola E, Erijman L, Permingeat H, Quiroga A. High quality residues from cover crops favor changes in microbial community and enhance C and N sequestration. Global ecology and conservation. 2016 Apr 1;6:242-56.
Singh J, Singh B, Sharma S. Comparison of soil carbon and nitrogen pools among poplar and eucalyptus based agroforestry systems in Punjab, India. Carbon management. 2021 Nov 29;12(6):693-708.
Bambrick AD, Whalen JK, Bradley RL, Cogliastro A, Gordon AM, Olivier A, Thevathasan NV. Spatial heterogeneity of soil organic carbon in tree-based intercropping systems in Quebec and Ontario, Canada. Agroforestry Systems. 2010;79:343-53.
O'Connor C, Choma C, Ndiaye A, Delbende F, Zeller B, Manouvrier E, Desmyttère H, Siah A, Waterlot C, Andrianarisoa KS. Young trees share soil water with wheat in an alley-cropping system in a wet crop year: Evidence from 2H2O artificial labeling. Journal of Hydrology. 2024;635:131021.
Rakotomalala AA, Ficiciyan AM, Tscharntke T. Intercropping enhances beneficial arthropods and controls pests: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 2023;356:108617.
Feng Y, Sunderland T. Feasibility of tea/tree intercropping plantations on soil ecological service function in China. Agronomy. 2023;13(6):1548.
Wang Y, Lin Y, Zhang L, Liu S, Wang J, Tian Y, Campbell DE, Lin R, Ren H, Lu H. Long‐term effects of intercropping on multi‐trophic structure and bio‐thermodynamic health of mixed Eucalyptus‐native tree plantations. Journal of Applied Ecology. 2024;61(1):103-19.
Benckiser G. Ants and sustainable agriculture. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 2010;30:191-9.
De Almeida T, Arnan X, Capowiez Y, Hedde M, Mesléard F, Dutoit T, Blight O. Ants in restoration ecology: Why, what's and the way forward. Land Degradation & Development. 2024;35(4):1284-95.
Deleon E, Bauder TA, Wardle E, Fonte SJ. Conservation tillage supports soil macrofauna communities, infiltration, and farm profits in an irrigated maize‐based cropping system of Colorado. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 2020;84(6):1943-56.
Kelly C, Schipanski M, Kondratieff B, Sherrod L, Schneekloth J, Fonte SJ. The effects of dryland cropping system intensity on soil function and associated changes in macrofauna communities. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 2020;84(6):1854-70.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.